Adara Venture Partners: Building a Venture Capital Firm

This case examines a critical decision faced by the partners of a venture capital firm, Adara Venture Partners, in June 2013. In the course of raising their second fund, the partners face the prospect of an anchor investor pulling out because Adara had not yet assembled sufficient capital to meet the end-of-month deadline to complete the fund’s first closing. As a consequence, the partners are evaluating the possibility of the GP itself underwriting a portion of the gap in the fund’s total capital commitment—which involves weighing a host of critical issues at the heart of venture capital fund management: GP economics, fundraising strategy, investor relations and the fund’s investment strategy.

An overarching objective is for participants to understand the entrepreneurial challenge of building a venture capital firm from the ground up. The specific decision addressed in the case—whether or not the partners should proceed with underwriting a portion of the firm’s second fund—allows participants to explore a host of issues that relate to the management of a venture capital fund.